Chinese fairy tales, the cultural revolution and plump dumplings have always come together in Ying Compestine’s writing, whether it was critically lauded cookbooks, children’s picture books or her award-winning young adult novel about China’s Cultural Revolution, “Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party.” We stopped counting how many major literary awards the Lafayette writer had won after she hit 19 with “Revolution” alone.

Her latest cookbook, “Cooking With an Asian Accent” (Houghton Mifflin, $29.99, 250 pages), is different from the rest. Here Compestine, a former editor for Martha Stewart’s Body + Soul magazine, who grew up in Wuhan during China’s Cultural Revolution, brings together a yin and yang of Eastern and Western cuisine. The result is delicious — and naturally, we had questions.

Q What’s the back story on this book?

A People always ask me why I’m so obsessed with food. This book is my journey from East to West. “Revolution” was the fiction version. This is nonfiction about my life. There are recipes I collected through my life, on my travels. A lot are family recipes. The rice balls — my grandmother used to make them when the kids went to education camp to work in the farms. I made them modern, Americanized, healthy and easy to prepare at home.

Q How did your family celebrate Lunar New Year in China when you were growing up?

A All the food was rationed, but we’d get a ration ticket for extra sugar, peanuts, meat. Sugar was such a luxury item. My parents always invited friends or family over.

Q How do you celebrate now, when you’re home in Lafayette?

A When I’m not on tour, I always have a party. One year I assembled a menu of 10 dishes — Long Life Noodles, fish, meatballs — and emailed recipes to my friends so they could choose what to make. People had a great time. My mother slaved in the kitchen over a coal stove for days. I don’t have to work so hard. (Laughs.)

Q What would you suggest we make for Lunar New Year this year?

A It depends on the person, vegetarian or gluten-free or if you have children. Dumplings are always fun to do with kids. Or spring rolls. You have the filling ready and everyone can roll them, sit around the table and talk and roll. We do fish, spicy sesame ribs, forbidden rice. In China, growing up, we only had black rice a few times. My father was a surgeon and poor people would give him a little bag of rice — once it was black rice — and a couple of eggs to thank him for healing them. It was such a luxury item — now you can find it at Diablo Foods, Whole Foods, any Asian store.

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